Tributes are pouring in for Rockies icon Todd Helton, who will play is final game at Coors Field Wednesday night. (Rick Scuteri, The Associated Press)

It’s Todd Helton Day as the Rockies first baseman plays his 1,141st, and final, game at Coors Field Wednesday. The tributes will pile up throughout the day and tonight as the Rockies host the Red Sox. Mark Razum and the grounds crew have already mowed a giant No. 17 into the outfield grass at Coors and painted a No. 17 along the third baseline.

Down at Dove Valley, the 3-0 Broncos are preparing for Sunday’s game against the Eagles, but quarterback Peyton Manning and John Elway, the VP of football operations, took time out to send along their best wishes to Helton.

* I’ll miss dodging insults, verbal barbs and welt-lifting love taps from the bat of the irascible Todd Helton. Todd pretends he’s nothing but a Tennessee redneck, but he’s actually one of the smartest athletes I’ve ever known. He’s funny, too. Ask him for his take on Mini-Coopers sometime. (inside joke).

When all is said and done, Helton will stand as one of this state’s most celebrated athletes. As well he should. Please go out to Coors and watch him in person before he hangs up his gold glove for good.

* I’ll miss Aaron Cook, Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez, Brad Hawpe and almost all of the other Rockies. Most sports writers are cynics, with good reason. Pro athletes can be some of the biggest jerks on the planet. I should know, I covered the Broncos for years. But the Rockies are a dream team to cover. With a few exceptions, the Rockies are guys worth rooting for.

* I’ll miss Jim Tracy’s dugout chats. The man knows how to talk … and talk. But there is not an insincere bone in the man’s body. He loves baseball. He loves his players. He even loves most sports writers. Go figure.

* I’ll miss Bob Apodaca’s theories on pitching and baseball philosophy. We have to play golf sometime.

* I’ll miss Dan O’Dowd’s professionalism. It’s no secret the GM has had more than a few battles with The Post, but he always treated me well and always returned phone calls. Thanks.

* I’ll miss KOA’s Jack Corrigan. A true gentleman.

* I’ll miss going to the ballpark in the summertime. But I won’t miss games that end at 11:30 on a Saturday night in the bottom of the ninth with a deadline tightening around my neck like a noose. But a summer night at Coors Field is pretty close to heaven. I can still go. I can even have a beer. Now I just won’t get paid for watching baseball.

* I’ll miss all the Rockies’ PR staff. You guys were great and answered my quirky stat requests with a smile.

* The little boy in me will miss hanging out in the dugout, walking on the field and watching batting practice up close and personal.

I could go on and on and on.

So thanks Rockies, thanks baseball. You made me feel like a kid again. That’s priceless.

INDIANAPOLIS — The weather in Denver followed me to Indy. Probably a good thing that the Broncos play indoors here this week. There’s a difference between Colorado cold and Indiana cold. Which us brings us to the hot stove. The winter meetings have started — you can tell by the TV trucks outside the downtown Marriott. I will be updating this blog and Twittering news all week, so keep checking back.

Here you go:
–Talked to an National League executive this morning whose team has interest in Rafael Betancourt who was led to believe that the reliever will accept the Rockies’ arbitration offer. Momentum has been building toward that the last few days. Here’s why: The Phillies have shifted their focus to reliever Brandon Lyon, a likely less expensive alternative who doesn’t carry Type-A status. And the Red Sox, another team where Betancourt would fit, is not crazy about giving up a draft pick after signing Marco Scutaro. They got one back with the loss of Billy Wagner and could receive another one if Jason Bay departs, but that hole would likely get filled by Matt Holliday. Will keep you posted. But looks like Betancourt will accept a one-year deal that should end up around $5 million, the original option the club turned down.

–The Orioles and Mariners are creating buzz as the teams that will be the most active spenders this winter. The Mariners are poised to sign Chone Figgins to a four-year, $36-million deal and will make a strong play for pitcher John Lackey. The Oriples have money to spend and need help. I wouldn’t rule out them taking a shot on Garrett Atkins once he’s non-tendered next week.

–The Mets are in no hurry to sign Bengie Molina because they know the other teams that need a catcher don’t have money — like the Rockies, Giants, etc. I still think Molina will get a two-year deal for around $12 million.

–Tom O’Connell, Carl Pavano’s agent, is pushing for a multi-year deal for his client with the Twins. He remains undecide

My take on baseball’s steroid era is nearly every player at least experimented with performance enhancing drugs, otherwise referred to as PEDs. Some may have taken one injection while in the minors. Some may have taken it for a six-week cycle. Some may have tried it for a year or so. Some may owe their entire career to PEDs.

My guess is more than 50 percent of the players, in the period from, say 1995-2000, ingested or injected a PED at least once. The minors pay poverty wages, in the thousands of dollars. The majors pay a king ranson, by the millions.

If you’re a minor-league shortstop, and you know the shortstop on the minor-league team is a juicer, you’re going to stay clean and be rewarded with a life of McDonald value meals? Oh, and meanwhile the guy coming up in Single-A is discovering the wonders of steroids.

All this while baseball bosses were turning their heads and not testing for steroids through 2001.

By the way, there’s no doubt in my mind pitchers used more than hitters. Every mph above 90 is precious in the majors. Steroids can not only help boost velocity, they aided a pitcher’s recovery so he could also throw hard in his next start or relief appearance. For recovery reasons, pitchers needed steroids more than hitters.

I don’t know where to draw the line on my Hall of Fame ballot, so I don’t draw it anywhere. They’re all in, if their merits otherwise allow.

McGwire hit 583 career home runs. That comes out to an average of 34 homers over 17 seasons. Sure, I believe he used. In my mind, they all did. Sorry all those ballplayers who stayed clean. The competition among the elite was so fierce, and the rewards were too great, for me to believe anything other than a small percentage tried it at least once. Is using once a lesser sin than using often?

I don’t believe this question can be answered by any mortal, not even a writer.

What does this have to do with the Broncos and the NFL? I am a football writer who is also lifetime member of the Baseball Writer’s Association of America, having covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball for 12 1/2 seasons. As such, I get a baseball Hall of Fame ballot each year.

Mike Klis formerly covered the Rockies before becoming one of The Denver Post’s Broncos beat writers.

The warm-and-fuzzy story of starter Valerio De Los Santos now a porcupine, the Rockies will make a roster move Monday, according to manager Clint Hurdle.
Santos was told today in Miami that he will be sent out, likely designated for assignment. Jeff Francis fills his rotation spot, but that doesn’t happen until Wednesday. So the Rockies will look to bring up another reliever — my gut tells me Triple-A reliever Steven Register based on my talks with sources this morning. The obvious guy would be Ryan Speier, but he’s not eligible to return until Wednesday, continuing his season of tough luck. Ten days must pass before an optioned player can return unless there is an injury.

Speier could really help a team that has seen the sixth-inning become a sinkhole on this road trip thanks to the struggles of Matt Herges, Jason Grilli and Kip Wells. Luis Vizcaino has moved ahead those guys in the pecking order given last night’s performance.

Again, for those who are still gulping down the morning coffee of broncos’ news and might have missed it, here’s a look at Rockies’ rotation going forward. Remember, Hurdle pushed Francis back to align the top three pitchers against division-leading Arizona next week.

The Rockies have interest in Twins’ starter Livan Hernandez, but because of when Minnesota designated him for assignment he might never make the waiver-wire. Hernandez is owed $1.66 million on his contract, so the Rockies would prefer to sign him as a free agent at the minimum. Josh Fogg remains a possibility to land when Aaron Harang rejoins the Reds’ rotation.

A look at today’s lineups, with slight tweaks by the Rockies’ to move their top hitters against lefties up higher in the order:
Rockies (50-62, eight games back in NL West)
CF Taveras
SS Tulowitzki
LF Holliday
1B Atkins
C Iannetta
2B Baker
RF Hawpe
3B Barmes
LHP Rusch

Outfielder Ryan Spilborghs, one of the most popular players in the clubhouse and dugout, continues to play human spark plug on the field. Spilborghs started in center for the injured Willy Taveras on Thursday night and promptly opened the Rockies’ first at-bat with a single. He stole second and scored on Matt Holliday’s single. In the fourth, Spilborghs made a sprinting catch in deep center on a drive by Jim Edmonds.

Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa are expected to hold a mutual-admiration meeting at tonightâ€™s Rockies-Cardinals game. Shanahan and his father, Ed, are planning to watch the game and then meet up with LaRussa.
Last year, La Russa read Shanhanâ€™s book, â€œThink Like a Champion,â€? and came away very impressed.
â€œI admire him and Iâ€™ve heard a lot about him,â€? La Russa said. â€œA lot of NFL guys come by our camp during spring training and I hear them talk about him. His name comes up a lot â€“ always complimentary. Itâ€™s about all the responsibility he has and how he handles it.â€?
Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, who hit back-to-back homers in St. Louisâ€™ 8-4 victory Monday night, is not in the starting lineup tonight.
â€œI sensed that he was wearing down a little, so he gets the night off,â€? La Russa said. â€œWe still have him available to pinch hit.â€?

Like bananas and Bradys, Brad Hawpeâ€™s home runs come
in bunches. He blasted his seventh home run in 13 games
with a second-inning laser into the right-field seats. Hawpe
had one home run in the teamâ€™s first 37 games before going
on his tear. â€œI know that I donâ€™t have to muscle up like I
would do before in the minor leagues. As you get more experience
you have a better feel for what you can do,â€? said
Hawpe, who hit 22 home runs last season.Read more…

Remember what Kansas City in December used to be to the Broncos? Regardless of their players, they rarely won there, frozen in time. Shea Stadium has become to the Rockies what Arrowhead was to the Broncos: a house of horrors.

The Rockies have lost 14 of their past 15 games at Shea, struggling to be competitive in most instances. Manager Clint Hurdle didn’t sugarcoat it, saying the Rockies have not pitched or hit well here on most nights.

Quick hits
–Troy Tulowitzki gets the start because he has made progress in cage work. Also, Clint Barmes struck out four times last night.

–Willy Taveras should return to the lineup tomorrow after consecutive days of extended batting practice. He’s trying to use his hands more, which should help him make contact.

–Steve Finley is not viewed as a platoon player with Taveras, according to manager Hurdle. He’s seen as a role player, a versatile reserve. Hurdle is trying to spark both players to ignite a dormant offense.

Tucson â€“ Want to put an MLB player at ease, ask him about the NFL. Many follow the league with a meticulous interest that borders on hilarious. And given that Jake Plummer could be officially traded any second to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it seemed like a relevant topic today. Read more…

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.